Trades by State
We are an independent site, not a government office, and this is not legal advice. Every number links to the official page it came from and shows when we last checked it.
Before your first paid job

Plumbing, HVAC and electrical license requirements by state

The license and what it costs. The least insurance you must carry. Whether you need a bond or a credit check. When to charge sales tax. Where your license number has to be printed. And the deadlines that protect your right to get paid.

Every figure links to the official page it came from and shows the date a person last checked it. Nothing goes on this site unchecked.

Find your page

One page for each state and trade.

Start with your trade

Each opens every page we have for that trade, state by state. More trades come after these three cover all fifty states.

Plumbing

Journeyman, master and business licenses, with the insurance, bond and tax rules.

11 states checked

HVAC

Licenses by size of job, the federal refrigerant card, and where a city licenses you instead.

10 states checked

Electrical

Apprentice to master to contractor, and where low-voltage work falls outside the license.

7 states checked

Start with your state

Pick your state, then the trade. Every page has the license, insurance, bond and tax rules for that trade in that state, with a link to the official source for each figure.

11 states so far

Being written next: Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Massachusetts. Then the rest, biggest first. A state appears here the day a person has checked every figure on its pages.

Things that catch people out

One line from a checked page. Each is the kind of rule that costs a day, or a job, when you learn it late.

The whole rule for the residential R-11 is one sentence. It lets you install and repair residential electrical systems, and nothing else is written down. The commercial C-11 runs to a paragraph and stops at 600 volts.

A C-10 with no employees can still file the no-employee workers' comp exemption. The five trades that cannot are concrete, asbestos abatement, heating and air, roofing, and tree service. That door closes for every trade on January 1, 2028.

There is no credit score to hit. Instead you send a credit report from a recognized credit bureau, dated within the last 12 months, showing liens, judgments, lawsuits and bankruptcies.

HVAC licenses renew by November 30 of odd-numbered years. Plumbing licenses renew in even years. A person who holds both renews in different years.

Guides that cover every state

One question, with the answer for every state side by side.

  • Sales tax on labor for plumbers and HVAC contractors by state
  • Insurance minimums compared across states coming
  • Workers' comp rules for contractors, state by state coming
  • Where your license number has to be printed coming
  • States where your city licenses you, not the state coming
  • What you can do without a license coming

Tools you can use today

Small, free, and built from the same checked figures.

  • Proof of insurance letter ask a subcontractor for their certificate
  • Printable checklist for your state and trade on every page

How we keep the numbers right

Three steps, every page, every figure.

Read from the official page

Every number comes from the state board, the statute or the rule book, and links back to it. Never from another website.

Checked by a person

A second reading against the same page, then a person confirms the figures that cost money to get wrong: insurance, bonds, deadlines.

Re-checked every month

A program re-reads every official page we link to, once a month. If one changes, the page is marked for another look before anyone relies on it.

Spotted something out of date? Tell us and point us to the official page that shows the new number. New to all this? Read how a page works.